Expeditions |
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West to EastAbove: The 1958 Land-Rover series-1 107" station wagon used by the Leyland Brothers in their 1966 West to East crossing of Australia. Members of the Land Rover Owners Club of Victoria organised a commemorative trip on the 40th anniversary, 2006. The 1966 crossing took 36 months of dreaming, planning and trials; this trip was a first. It began 3 May 1966 at Steep Point near Shark Bay WA (the most western point of the Australian mainland, Indian Ocean). They passed through "Woodlie" sheep station, 450,000 acres. It was raining at Ayers Rock when they got there. It finished 20 August 1966 at Cape Byron NSW (the eastern most point, Pacific Ocean). Way-points along the 26th parallel included Meekatharra, Wiluna, Carnegie, Gibson and Stony Deserts, Giles, Ayers Rock, Finke, Andado, Simpson's Desert (crossing took 22 days, 1105 sand ridges), Birdsville, Windorah, Cunnamulla, Goondiwindi, Lismore -- 111 days of travel, 4248 miles @ 17mpg (best road) and 3mpg (desert slog and 500 miles of mud in Queensland).
p.194: "A startling number of breakdowns, (mainly on the older vehicle, was both surprising and annoying, but a thorough understanding of the vehicles by the mechanic and the added safety of the second vehicle lessened the possibility of a disaster. Any one of the the breakdowns could have been a major catastrophe to anyone with no mechanical knowledge." p.143: "we were sick of broken diffs" (Simpson Desert). |
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